I just finished reading blog of one man's journey, in which it inspired me to write more about this topic.
This man here, 
Which brings me to want to talk about it more. I am surrounded by fantastic people that suffer from one disability or another.
What I am seeing most of is the ugliness that other people bring to these beautiful people. more than bringing them light to what they are dealing with already. People need to stop being ugly and lend people a hand with even the smallest thing.
For people to do that, there needs to be understanding and teaching. I. by no means, can I teach people about disabilities. I am not a doctor. But I can talk about what surrounds me, what I have learned in hopes that you, the reader, can understand a little more.
It started for me when I met Danny.
When I met him, he was a quiet and tender soul. True to himself and showed much acceptance to others. This was someone I just couldn't let go. I loved spending time with him. I thought about him all the time. We went on long walks in with woods, spent many days doing just that.
I talked to him, one day, about being together. Told him I really liked him. He turned to me and said, "you don't want to be with someone like me." I was shocked to hear that. I was maybe expecting, no I'm with someone or not right now sorry or even a yes.
I asked what he meant by that. I didn't see anything wrong with him. That's when he told me he has Bipolar Disorder.
When I got home, I had to look it up. I never heard of this disorder. I spent hours reading up on it. Manic-depressive. High and low. Manic can make you feel like you are Superman, achieve many things at once, unrealistic things. Saying you are gone for 5 minutes and come back 2 hours later. There is a lot of different things that could happen. Here is a short description : https://www.nimh.nih.gov/health/topics/bipolar-disorder/index.shtml
The next day I told him that I looked it up and he thanked me for it. Told me that not one of his friends ever seeked out what it was, one even told him that he thinks it's a funny way to get extra cash from the government! How could he have friends like that??
I told him that, yes I understand he has a disability, but that does not define who he is. There is a sweet man in there, full of love and care. I was willing to learn more about it and learn more about him. Thus started our journey together, through family and marriage!
It can be rough some days. Days where it takes me time to understand what is going on. I am the person that sees on the outside. Living with him everyday has me questioning at times if he is going through a 'phase' or if he just woke up on the wrong side of the bed. It is a learning progress for me. And I think it still is for him as well. We bought books to help us. We are still reading them.
From time to time I hear people say comments to others like, 'you are so bipolar' and, yes I would get upset. They have no idea. And that's when Danny would remind me, that they have no idea and let it be. His level of acceptance far surpassed mine. If only people would know...
THis opened my eyes more to the people around me. My cousin with Alopecia, she has lost all hair on her body. Eyelashes are just starting to grow back. My friend's son with Tourette's Syndrome. My nieces with ADD and ADHD. MY sister in law with chronic depression. The list goes far but these are the people are close to me.
So with your help, I would love to spread the word, bring awareness to people.
For this contest, all you need to do is write about your experience with a disability, yourself or someone you know.
Copy the link to your post in the comment section, resteem the contest to help spread the word to create awareness and that's it.
This contest will be open for 5 days. All curation rewards will go towards the winners, split between 1rst, 2nd and 3rd. 1rst place will get an added bonus.
I look forward to reading all of your posts and excited to spread the word!
With much love and respect
